Essex four piece call it a day
Baddies singer Mike Webster has spoken to ClashMusic about the band's decision to call it a day.
It's a tough climate for British guitar music. Yesterday (July 19th) Essex four piece Baddies decided to call it a day, after two albums of spiky, punk infused songwriting.
Battling through the industry in a DIY fashion, it seems that ennui and fatigue have dragged the band down. Posting on Facebook, Baddies wrote: "It is with heavy heart and a lump in our collective throat that we announce Baddies are splitting up. We're all still great friends / family but it has become an ongoing struggle thats too difficult to continue with. Thankyou and goodnight."
Earlier today, ClashMusic got on the phone to singer Mike Webster. "We’d literally got to a stage where we felt we had gone as far as we could" he sighed. "We’d been touring for about a year and we were ready to get out on the festival circuit. When you’ve already been the young blood and you haven’t made that giant leap into the Radio 1 tent or whatever it becomes quite difficult to get back up there. It’s almost impossible to get on that festival circuit and to be honest live is where it’s at for us".
Continuing, the frontman was quite frank in his assessment of the wider industry. "It’s just not a good time for guitar bands. I think we just missed that boat – we got one foot in it.. wading in the water! It’s a shame. If we had maybe broken six months to a year earlier we would have stood more of chance of taking that step up".
It seems that Baddies career has always been fraught with difficulties, such as losing their management after debut album 'Do The Job'. "After the first record we had great support, we got a few good reviews – and a few bad ones as well!" he joked. "It did well, but without a major label behind us that support soon started dropping fairly early on. We were at a stage where we had toured all over the world, and then we were wondering where we were going then? At that point, we could have called it quits".
"We were left on our own to fend for ourselves and at that point we thought, do we really want to be one of those bands who do one album and then fuck off? We lost our manager, our agent, our label – we thought, what are we going to do? Are we going to stop or carry on? We didn’t want to be one of those bands who faded away never to be seen again".
"We’ve had so many great memories in this band – I’m absolutely, 100% proud of everything we’ve done. It’s been the best time of my life! I know for a fact that all four of us feel the same way" he continued. "We’re all still friends. Two of us are family, anyway! It’s totally amicable. It’s something we’ve thought about for a long time. In a way, it’s a big weight off our shoulders as now we can get on and do things. I personally have been recording new things, which I might just release on my own and see where that goes."
At the time of writing Baddies are considering a final live show. "We want to keep it real and true to us. Keep it in our home town because that’s where it began and ideally that’s how I’d like it to end as well. If we’re going to do it then it will be around October time. But, again, there’s nothing confirmed."
Farewell, then, Baddies. Here's 'Battleships'.
It's a tough climate for British guitar music. Yesterday (July 19th) Essex four piece Baddies decided to call it a day, after two albums of spiky, punk infused songwriting.
Battling through the industry in a DIY fashion, it seems that ennui and fatigue have dragged the band down. Posting on Facebook, Baddies wrote: "It is with heavy heart and a lump in our collective throat that we announce Baddies are splitting up. We're all still great friends / family but it has become an ongoing struggle thats too difficult to continue with. Thankyou and goodnight."
Earlier today, ClashMusic got on the phone to singer Mike Webster. "We’d literally got to a stage where we felt we had gone as far as we could" he sighed. "We’d been touring for about a year and we were ready to get out on the festival circuit. When you’ve already been the young blood and you haven’t made that giant leap into the Radio 1 tent or whatever it becomes quite difficult to get back up there. It’s almost impossible to get on that festival circuit and to be honest live is where it’s at for us".
Continuing, the frontman was quite frank in his assessment of the wider industry. "It’s just not a good time for guitar bands. I think we just missed that boat – we got one foot in it.. wading in the water! It’s a shame. If we had maybe broken six months to a year earlier we would have stood more of chance of taking that step up".
It seems that Baddies career has always been fraught with difficulties, such as losing their management after debut album 'Do The Job'. "After the first record we had great support, we got a few good reviews – and a few bad ones as well!" he joked. "It did well, but without a major label behind us that support soon started dropping fairly early on. We were at a stage where we had toured all over the world, and then we were wondering where we were going then? At that point, we could have called it quits".
"We were left on our own to fend for ourselves and at that point we thought, do we really want to be one of those bands who do one album and then fuck off? We lost our manager, our agent, our label – we thought, what are we going to do? Are we going to stop or carry on? We didn’t want to be one of those bands who faded away never to be seen again".
"We’ve had so many great memories in this band – I’m absolutely, 100% proud of everything we’ve done. It’s been the best time of my life! I know for a fact that all four of us feel the same way" he continued. "We’re all still friends. Two of us are family, anyway! It’s totally amicable. It’s something we’ve thought about for a long time. In a way, it’s a big weight off our shoulders as now we can get on and do things. I personally have been recording new things, which I might just release on my own and see where that goes."
At the time of writing Baddies are considering a final live show. "We want to keep it real and true to us. Keep it in our home town because that’s where it began and ideally that’s how I’d like it to end as well. If we’re going to do it then it will be around October time. But, again, there’s nothing confirmed."
Farewell, then, Baddies. Here's 'Battleships'.
